Boredom in Omashu
by OrangeLovePerson
Summary: Glances at the intellectual world of Mai during her time in Omashu. Her thoughts on Ty Lee, Azula, knifes, her parents, and Zuko, of course.
1. Knife nights

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I don't own "Avatar - The last airbender", I'm just a fan. :)

* * *

 **KNIFE NIGHTS**

* * *

Mai was bored.

It wasn't like that was something new. Mai's boredom was as omnipresent in her life as her nation's colour, red, or as the quiet clattering of trays in servants' hands.

.

Frankly, she couldn't really remember the last time that she hadn't been bored.

Winter had arrived and had left again, with all its cold. Just another thing, that Mai could hate about this place: At home, in the Fire Nation, there had never been real winters, and certainly there hadn't been snow! The cold time of the year had been like a fresh breeze. Here, in a downright ridiculously earthy city with the even-more-ridiculous name "Omashu", she'd often been cold, despite the chimneys. She'd mostly holed up in the depths of the library. Where the room was so occupied with books that there wasn't even much space for patriotic symbols on the walls. Here, you could almost pretend that everything was just like it was in the Fire Nation. Almost.

.

Now, spring approached, but Mai continued to squad in the library most of the time. Only at night, she would often go outside.

.

"Time for a little fun..", she murmured towards her mirror image, as she once again changed her clothes after dinner. As her mirror image only raised her eyebrows sceptically, Mai laughed softly. It was good that her mother and father were in select company tonight, and therefore distracted. This gave her the opportunity to enjoy herself a little bit as well. Within the bounds of possibility, of course.

.

.

Mai was always wearing at least 52 knives on her body. It was like her golden rule. Eight on each leg, buckled around her thighs with thin laces, so that Mai could gently feel them at table, when she elegantly folded her hands in her lap.

Another four she wore around her stomach, or at the seam of her clothes at her hips. A few little extra knives Mai hid in her hair, concealed by the thick blackness. Even if someone would discover a knife there, the blades shine could surely be confounded with that of her hair. Mai's mother often brimmed over with pride because of this hair's gloss.

("See, how they reflect the light! Enchanting, isn't it?" - Mai's mother loved to boast about her daughter, which was really ironic, Mai thought.)

.

Most of the knives on Mai's body she hid in her wide, long sleeves, though. Sometimes, when away from other's gaze, she pulled a knife out and let it wander between her fingers. Mai loved playing with knives. Almost nothing came close to the feeling of cold metal between her fingers, to sense the edges or to even throw it. That, - exactly that, - was what it must feel like to be a bender, she often thought.

.

As she descended that night over her balcony, to climb over the roofs of her odious city, she obviously wore more than 52 knives. Special occasions demanded special effort. Underneath her clothes, she was covered with blades and arrows, the metal was nestled coldly against her skin and gave her at the same time a feeling of thrill and of safety.

.

"Come out, you resistance fighters! I want to play.", Mai whispered, as she sneaked away, and for a few small hours, she almost forgot about all the boredom.

.

Almost.


	2. Frustration

**FRUSTRATION**

* * *

The resistance fighters of Omashu were nothing more than a bunch of overly optimistic fools.

At least, according to Mai.

.

Long, long after her own nation had conquered and owned the city, some martial citizens were still staying behind, just to fight. Months had passed, and still, there were green clad mischief-makers lurking in the dark. They attacked soldiers of the Fire Nation, made frameworks fall apart and created chaos.

What were they hoping for? Were they honestly naïve enough to think they'd still have a chance to win? Omashu was long not their own anymore, and it probably never would be again.

.

"Technically,..", Mai thought, as she was laying on her bed one night, "technically, I own all of this." Wasn't it like that? Her parents engulfed themselves in luxury once again, the city was taken, there were no longer any military plans to scheme. Day after day, there was just all this free time to enjoy and to wait for the Firelord's next instructions. And even though her father was the one who was supposed to try to eliminate the Earth Kingdom's last resistance, she was the one who sneaked away at night for doing so.

.

While the Fire Nation's soldiers were marching through streets or were positioned at some corners as guards, Mai was throwing her arrows and knifes at any rebels who were stupid enough to cross her way. It was the most beautiful part of her day.

.

However, as incredible as it might seem, Mai still had never killed someone so far. Her years in the "Royal Fire Academy for girls" had made her a master of accuracy. When she threw an arrow or a knife, it landed exactly, where it was supposed to land. Killing someone wasn't much of a challenge. Killing someone seemed boring. There was more than enough boredom in her life already. But stapling someone against a wall in a way that only left a few holes in their clothes, but not even the tiniest scratch on their skin, that was real art. And Mai managed it perfectly.

.

She snorted. What a frustrating thought! Her talent was wasted here! She couldn't really fight for something or contribute something important. She just could remind some ridiculous earth-benders on what losers they were!

.

If she only could have been at the front, as a soldier! But something like that just wasn't really suitable for the young daughter of a high general.

If she only could live in the Fire Nation, at least! Sure, things at home were just as boring and empty as they were here, but at least they were familiar.

.

Once again, Mai's memories circled a certain young prince, who to think about she originally had forbidden herself a long time ago. Everything about him was just another totally frustrating thought in her already bored and totally frustrated head.

.

Zuko. Two years, nine months and a few weeks had passed, since he had been banned. How embarrassing, that she knew this so exactly...! But on the other hand, who was there to fool? It wasn't as if she'd talked with anyone about him, not to mention about how his absence felt for her...

Sometimes, she wished she had accompanied him. Sure, it was a ridiculous idea. Her? On a war ship? In the middle of the ocean, Zosin know's where? Searching for a supposedly dead Avatar?

.

No, she hardly could have turned away from her parents at the age of thirteen, to follow Zuko.

.

But still, even if it was so silly and unrealistic; the idea of being with him now, - that thought wasn't boring or frustrating at all.


	3. Insects and self-pity

**INSECTS AND SELF-PITY**

* * *

A woodlouse-spider wandered over the ceiling of Mai's room, and Mai watched it.

.

Normally, spiders and all these kinds of bugs weren't really "Mai's thing",- her upbringing as a noble lady certainly would have expelled all kinds of amicable feelings for woodlouse-spiders pretty soon, anyway.

( _"Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! What is_ _ **that**_ _doing here?!"_ , her mother would scream, whenever she discovered a beetle or anything of that kind. _"Please calm down, Mother."_ , Mai would reply then, nonchalantly, and perhaps roll her eyes, if the situation permitted it.)

.

Nevertheless, as she lay on her bed that evening and stared at the small animal, it did warm her heart a little bit. Well. A tiny, tiny little bit, at least. _"Not, that I would ever admit this to anyone, or something!"_ , Mai thought. It was silly, obviously. But wasn't it kind of nice to see, that even here, in the most precious building in the city, - the palace, - a woodlouse-spider could pass the ceiling just like that?

.

.

It's important to know, that woodlouse-spiders were rare and real survival artists non the less. Getting to see them at all was unusual, and having them at home was even more unpleasant, considering how nasty they were. Their movements resembled small wrenches of limbs. All these servants here,- and they were a lot,- did little else all day long than cleaning and tidying, and a creature like that could explore Mai's ceiling, anyway. Odd.

.

Ty Lee, Mai's best friend from her time in school, might have called it _"destiny"_ or _"a sign of the universe"_ , or something. " _See? So you're **not** the only one, who's out of place here!"_ , Mai could imagine to hear her chattering, with that enthusiastic, giggling voice that Ty Lee would like to use in situations like these.

Mai missed that. _"Not, that I would ever admit this to anyone.",_ Mai repeated in her head. (Confessions of any kind weren't really Mai's thing, either.) But it was true. Ty Lee was so far away, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, in some circus. She was fulfilling her life's dream.

.

The word _"enviable"_ swirled through Mai's mind. Yes, Ty Lee had a real dream. A silly, pointless one, perhaps, but still. Ty Lee was _happy_. Not in the way in which Mai was happy when throwing a knife, but constantly, permanently. Ty Lee was living a happy life, and Mai wasn't even a part of that, anymore.

" _Stop pitying yourself!"_ , Mai thought, annoyedly. _"That doesn't lead you anywhere."_ And then, she added her favourite word: " _Pitying yourself is so_ _ **boring**_ _."_

.

How Azula might be doing? Since the ending of their time together in school, one and a half years ago, Mai hadn't met her face to face any more. Was she still like she had used to be? Strong, and confident and funny, but also intimidating and mean?

Mai could remember that side of her friend all too well. (Did Azula count as a friend?)

.

Azula manipulated others. She observed people's weaknesses and used these against them. She didn't know scruple or compassion, it seemed. She'd insulted and harmed so many of their classmates during their time in school. And if someone was slightly endangering Azula's chances to win at something, Azula could gain all control back pretty fast. No one in their class would dare to mess with the princess.

For some reason, it had been Mai and Ty Lee who were chosen to became Azula's best friends. Maybe, because they'd been such talented fighters even back then. Certainly, Azula had liked the idea; having two personal bodyguards, disguised as her little friends.

.

Or maybe, Azula just had realised how popular Ty Lee was becoming, and wanted to stop that. Who would ever pay much attention to Ty Lee any longer, while she was standing next to the princess of the Fire Nation?

.

And Mai? Maybe, Azula had liked how little effort Mai was taking to endear herself. Most girls were constantly surrounding Azula and were desperately trying to impress her. Mai wasn't.

.

" _Whatever.."_ , Mai sighed. Did it really matter, why Azula had become friends with Mai all that time ago? Or why Ty Lee had joined a circus? All of that was way back in the past. It was just as meaningless as the ugly insect on her room's ceiling. It didn't bear a meaning.

.

At the moment, Mai wasn't even sure any more, if anything in her life did.


	4. Old sorrow

**OLD SORROW**

* * *

Zuko's face was halfway hidden by shadows. There was no gargantuan red spot, no uneven, scarred skin, no ruefulness in his face. Just shadow. Aside from that, he looked exactly like on the wanted posters, that Mai had discovered in Omashu. Older than _her_ Zuko, but still the same person. The same incredible, honest, strong person.

.

As he stood there, he began to laugh. Loudly and excitedly and with a voice, that Mai was partly familiar with. He grabbed for her hand and started to run with her around some corner, and the whole time he kept laughing. And to her surprise, she also started laughing. Loudly and excitedly, and so utterly abnormal for herself, that the thought alone made her laugh even more. Zuko beamed at her, still weirdly illuminated, half absorbed in shadow, but happy. She also was! It felt, as if all bad lay far behind her, Azula's mean pranks, the death of Zuko's cousin, the disappearance of his mother, his banishment, Omashu, … All pain and sorrow and humiliation were gone. It was, as if all of it had never even...

.

And then, she woke up. WHY did she have to wake up? It was just unfair!

.

She took a few breaths, breathed in and out, in and out, and reminded herself of where she was.

In an airless, foreign room in a boring, conquered city. She still was in Omashu. Nothing had changed. Zuko wasn't here. Zuko also wouldn't come here. Zuko probably was somewhere on a boring, stupid boat or in some boring, foreign corner of the gigantic Earth Kingdom himself. Disguised as one of them. And in his face, there probably was that enormous, painful scar, that Mai didn't want to see in her dream. And Zuko certainly wasn't laughing, either. Because all of that pain and sorrow and humiliation weren't gone. Maybe he even was crying, just now. Mai was.

.

" _If one of the servants would see me right now, I'd have to fire them.."_ , Mai thought, and for an instant, she found that thought somehow funny. Not, that it wasn't true. No one could ever see her like this. She wasn't crying very often, and if she did, then never in company.

" _Kind of pathetic, to dream of Zuko, still. Or to cry for him."_

But on the other hand, if she didn't mourn him, who would?

.


	5. Wardrobe adventures

**WARDROBE ADVENTURES**

* * *

"Nmrragrriimmmmm", babbled Tom-Tom, sitting at the bottom of Mai's wardrobe and happily soaking four or five sleeves of her everyday dresses with his drool.

It had to be around three 'o' clock in the morning, according to the almost fading darkness outside, and Mai was silently staring at the sight in front of her.

How had that little weirdo managed to climb out of his crib, then scramble across the long hall, - without catching any servants attention, too, - and somehow open several doors, to hide in one of her cupboards?

Well, Mai considered, finally; he always found one way or another to get to his aims, didn't he?

Yes, her little brother was truly adventurous for his age.

He was a blithesome, happy little thing. When she was his age, she'd probably already been shy or reserved or gloomy, in some way. At least, that was how she'd been like for the better part of her childhood.

No wonder her parents loved him so much. No wonder they were so affectionate towards him. So much more than they ever had been towards her.

Mai sighed. _Oh, shut up already, you self-pitying weirdo._

She eyed the little bundle of drool and lightly red pyjamas, and reached down to pull him up into her arms. He immediately cuddled her, his tiny hands happily wrapped around his big sister's neck. "Uhrgmnahlljjjip", he mentioned, contentedly wiggling closer to Mai.

"Yes, Tom-Tom.", she mumbled, answering to an unknowable comment and almost laughing at herself a second later for doing so.

"We truly are two weirdos, Tom-Tom, aren't we?", Mai whispered, and sat down on her bed with the toddler in her arms.

He wasn't to blame for all of this. He was just a baby.

It wasn't his fault, that Mai's parents were so obsessed with him, and that his birth had turned Omashu into an even more lonely place, in a way. It wasn't his fault, that Mai felt as if she didn't belong anywhere, sometimes; as if her whole family was made out of people who didn't really need her in their lives.

 _Hadn't I told you to give the self-pity a rest?_

Mai rolled her eyes. _Yes, indeed. No more self-pity tonight._

In that instant, Tom-Tom threw a hair clip out of one of his small pyjama pockets, and against the wall. It almost touched the candle's flame on Mai's bedside table, but she just watched the whole thing nonchalantly.

Okay, so perhaps, she and Tom-Tom didn't always get along. And maybe, just now wasn't the time, really, to be as close to him as a part of her could be and wanted to be.

But at least, they did have some things in common, now and then.

"Someday", Mai whispered, almost kissing her little brother on his miniature ear lobe, "Someday, I'll teach you how to throw things properly, Tom-Tom."


	6. Crazy ideas

**CRAZY IDEAS**

* * *

It wasn't, as if Mai's whole life revolved around her damned, banished childhood crush. It really wasn't.

But sometimes, a few certain minutes, or hours, or days actually did.

Which was stupid, of course.

Zuko had been gone for so long, already; had stopped being a present part of her life at the age of thirteen, had stopped being a part of her _nation_ , even, at thirteen. And even before that, she hadn't really been that close to him, probably.

There had been a few conversations, a few incidents when things had been... nice..., but there hadn't been nearly enough time to really develop any type of … thing.. as big and honest and real as her feelings for him had been.

Childhood love was different than adult's love, Mai thought. In her case, it had been shy and tingly and filled with a million ideas for what the future might hold, as unrealistic and awkward as they might be.

Okay, so, perhaps, childhood love wasn't all that different from the love of grown-up people, she considered, but she wouldn't really know, now, would she?

However, Zuko had been... something else. He'd seemed so direct and warm-hearted, so compassionate and fair, even as a kid. And yes, all that stuff could just be part of Mai's observations because it had been what she'd wanted to see in him, at the time, but it really did feel, as if these things were true. Not just the naïve imagination of a completely lovesick little girl, but the real core of this boys character.

He might have become a wonderful Fire Lord, one day, if some things would have went differently.

He also was the complete opposite of his sister, which was always a nice bonus.

Sometimes, when Mai would sit on her bed and prime her knives, she actually played with the thought to take one, and to carve his name somewhere.

At the inside of her bed's frame, or into one of her walls, maybe.

Or perhaps, only if she dared... Only if she was crazy enough to forget about the whole craziness of that idea, for a minute... She might actually take a knife and carve his name somewhere in her flesh.

Yes, that thought _actually_ occurred to her. That's how bad it was, whatever _it_ means here. It might be due to her loneliness, her isolation, her puberty; that that thought sneaked inside her mind. Or it might be due to a crush way to enormous for her age and the situation and for someone like her, to begin with.

Mai wouldn't carve Zuko's name into anything, of course. Not into a wall or into furniture, where someone might discover it, at one point.

Not into her own skin, either. The possible outcomes of such a plan were too embarrassing and weird and insane.

But still, now and then, when Mai did prime her knives on her bed, the mere possibility of such a deed dawned to her, and she imagined what it might feel like, to act on it.

To watch his name on her skin, as if it was a part of her, as if at least in a twisted, crazy way, something of him belonged to something of her, and vice versa. As if there was some kind of connection between them, despite all the time and all the distance. As if her idiotic childhood dreams might actually be true, some day.

And all these thoughts were obviously _insane_.

It wasn't, as if Mai's whole life revolved around her damned, banished childhood crush, after all.


	7. The pleasures of plants

**THE PLEASURES OF PLANTS**

* * *

Warmer months came and went again. Flowers filled the air with their smell, mild and sweet and different from what the wind had tasted like during spring.

Also different from the way flowers scented at home, in the Fire Nation.

In spring, the flowers here mostly smelled like grass, Mai thought. In summer, they smelled like flowers.

But nothing ever smelled like fire lilies; like sun roses or dragon daffodils. The air here wasn't flooded with the aroma of pepper-oranges and dry pomegranate-jujubes, the sun here wasn't as mighty and red and the people here didn't look like they craved all this sunshine and fed on it, in a way, like they were supposed to.

Mai was no bender, she was no constantly adventurous person either, and when she was outside in summer, she mostly hid in a large tree's shadow or underneath a parasol. But still, she was a citizen of her nation. Fire and heat slumbered somewhere in her veins, her very core was painted all dark red and black. Summer was a time to feel powerful, not exhausted, but so far away from home, the meaning of this season seamed to blur, and the people in Omashu seemed to infect her with their Earth Kingdom exhaustion.

Or perhaps, it wasn't even the heat, that made everyone here so boring. This city's resistance fighters lacked their usual endurance and stupid optimism, and perhaps, that was due to their permanent lack of control over their hometown.

Or, as Mai liked to think, also due to her own efforts.

Not, that fights against idiots weren't mainly about the fun. They were. Fun first, results second.

Fighting against idiots just wasn't all that fun, when you knew that it was basically all fun there ever was to be, these days.

Sometimes, Mai even found herself wishing for her parents to cause some severe military mistake, in order for them to leave this place and for some other family to endure the ever-lasting boringness of this hell-hole.

But of course, she wouldn't dare to say something like that aloud.

Most of her thoughts had to be kept in the private safety of her head.

Things were about to become a little nicer, soon, though. Mai had received a letter from her aunt Mura, who was about to visit Omashu in a few weeks. Mura owned a flower shop, at home in the Fire Nation.

So, perhaps, if Mai was lucky, there would be the smell of different flowers in her room here quite soon. Maybe even the smell of fire lilies.

It seemed like something small to hope for, but it would actually mean quite a lot to her, if that happened.

Not, that Mai would tell anyone else about such nonsense.

* * *

 _Author's note: Hi there! I'm so, so sorry for not posting anything on this for so long, I really don't know why I didn't. :/ A great thanks to everyone who's still reading, and also to people who might give this a try now! :) Thanks as well for the lovely feedback, you guys make me happy. :') I'll probably update another five or more last chapters to this over the course of the next few days, and then there's another Mai/ Maiko-thing on the way. :) Would be cool of you to check that out, too, of course, if you're interested. :) What else? Reviews are still more than welcome, ideas too, and I'm still searching for a Beta. ^^ Have a nice week!_


	8. Nostalgia

**NOSTALGIA**

* * *

"Oh, how nice it is to see my little nephew for the first time! And to meet my wonderful niece, once again, too! Mai, you can't possibly imagine how happy I was when I met one of your former teachers recently, I think his name was Sensei Yuto, do you remember him?"

"Yes, auntie Mura, I do."

"He was one of your close-combat-teachers, wasn't he? You should have heard him talking, Mai, he was really proud of your attainments in the Royal Fire Academy! Said your "aiming accurancy" was "remarkable"!" Mai's aunt laughed proudly. "And he seemed to have such a well taste for flowers, too! Have I mentioned that he was buying some in my shop? Couldn't really decide at first, but I gave him a few good advices, you see. And, as we stood there, talking about this and that, I mentioned my lovely niece,..." Mura pinched her motherly in the cheek, at this, "- and as he heard your name, he decided to buy a few more flowers even! You seem to have had such a wonderful reputation with some of your old teachers, Mai! Isn't that heart-warming?"

"Yes, it is, auntie.", Mai said, nonchalantly, although the corners of her mouth twitched bemusedly. It was always interesting to spend some time with her favourite aunt.

"But what isn't heart-warming at all, I think", Mura continued, a serious and concerned expression appearing on her face, "...Is the complete lack of flowers I noticed in your new home! Mai, have you hid all of those, in order to scare me, or are there really none in this whole palace? I'd really like to see some plantly friends around here, especially with a baby growing up in this building!"

 _Plantly friends_ was the expression Mai's aunt Mura liked to use for plants you put in your home; flowers or herbages or even little trees.

In Mura's case,- who held a charmingly ridiculous fascination for everything like that, in general, flowers and herbages and even little trees were such a huge part of her everyday-life, that she couldn't really handle the idea of her beloved relatives living without any.

"Well, auntie, most servants here seem to find other types of decoration more appealing, you know?", Mai explained with a shrug. Her aunt gaped at her disbelievingly, at this.

"Decoration? Oh, but Mai! Flowers are so much more than a plain piece of decoration, don't you know?"

"You're right, of course.", Mai hurried to say, not intending to insult her aunt's lifework. "Well, it's not like the flowers here in Earth Kingdom are all that great, anyway.", she concluded, a little surprised, herself, to hear so much frustration in her voice.

She eyed the pebbly ground beneath their feet for a while, the promenade producing tiny, creaky noises with each of the their steps. The sun was slowly crawling back to the edge of the sky line. Soon, the resistance fighters might appear, sneaking out of their holes or caves or wherever they might hide, in order to uselessly try to attack someone or something.

Mai didn't want to see her aunt involved in anything like that, though, since old people were so easily scared. So it was a good thing, that they were slowly getting closer to the palace, once again.

But, still, Mai wished to have more time, somehow,- more time in the fading, rosy daylight of this moment, with her aunt; and more than the two or three days auntie Mura might stay, afterwards, too.

Mai wished for more time to listen to stories about people in the Fire Nation, about things at home, about the past. Mai wished for Mura to stay longer here; time to teach Mai the certain characteristic of some "especially lovely" flower, or to babble about some workday anecdotes. It didn't really matter, what the two of them were talking about, really, as long as Mura kept talking and staying at all.

"There exist some nice flowers in the Earth Kingdom as well, you know, Mai?", Mura commented. As she looked up, Mai saw her aunt eye her in a sincere, warm way. "Things might turn out just fine, Mai, if you give them a chance more often.", Mura smiled.

Mai looked down, there feet scrunching pebbles on the dusty ground below. Perhaps, she might have chuckled, just then.


	9. Like like-minded enemies

**LIKE LIKE-MINDED ENEMIES**

* * *

She wasn't sure, whether to go to visit him again or not. But at one point, the boredom got the best of her.

She climbed over her balcony and through the depths of the night; hundreds of little blades and darts were grazing her skin like a blanket of assertiveness, her expression touched by the tiniest of grins. The air was warm and mild, the starlit sky above seemed too pretty for a place like this.

Mai didn't have to wait for too long for an opportunity to use her weapons. After a few minutes, some earth benders appeared and tried to crush her with a dingbat of dirt.

Metal flew through the air, edges fizzling with the contact. The earth benders' clothes stuck to a house wall within seconds, and gone she was, running along several corridors until she reached her aim.

"Oh, hello.", he said, sounding less surprised to see her than she had expected. His eyes held their usual calmly insane gaze.

"Good evening.", she replied, quietly sinking down to her knees and crossing her legs in front of the wooden box that was his home.

"I heard your aunt has come to town", Bumi mentioned, his face enlightened by interest.

"The resistance fighters told me she looked quite harmless for a family member of yours. Then again, your little brother also isn't much of a danger, as far as I'm concerned." He laughed loudly. "Although some of my people seem to think of him as a horrible weapon-to-be."

"Well, they're right, aren't they?", Mai commented, casually. "He will grow up at one point, and then he'll be an enemy."

Bumi eyed her funnily, his face lit by a cone of latern light, dark shadows cast by his nose and eyebrows. "We'll see. Who knows, what the future brings? I certainly see your brother as what he is. A toddler. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You haven't seen him, though, have you?", she asked, bewilderedly. "You never really left this place, right?"

Bumi just smiled at her, and shrugged,- as far as that is possible for someone with as little mobility as he had.

"No, you haven't.", Mai answered her own question, quietly. "Those idiots are your subjects, maybe, but they are not _that_ submissive."

"You're right. They probably would not agree to carry me around in this box!", Bumi grinned, breaking into another fit of crazy laughter.

Mai stayed for a little while longer, and then she sneaked away again, already.

It was the third time that she had visited that brainsick old king, talked to him, looked at him. It was interesting to watch their oh-so-feared enemy live like that, dangling from above in a narrow casket with putrid smell. It was ironic.

Before her nation had conquered this town, King Bumi had been feared for his intelligence and strength. But now, what was left of this empire was not the Earth Kingdom's property any more. And what was left of King Bumi was not impressive.

But still, Mai enjoyed talking to him. She did it with carefulness and caution, and never would she have dared or risked to speak to someone about these visits.

But it felt like the increase of her rebellion; not only to sneak away to fight these Earth idiots at night, but also to speak to their former leader. To go there, and then turn away again, just as she liked. It gave her an awkwardly comforting feeling, to know that others were as captured in this city as she was, and even more so.

Mai was breaking her parents' rules, - at least she was sure that they wouldn't like her to behave as she did. She was supposed to be quiet all day, and to sleep all night; sit in a corner and don't raise suspicion. She was not supposed to do something adventurous or dangerous or only slightly interesting, ever.

If she was really honest with herself, Mai didn't know, why exactly she sneaked away at night to visit King Bumi. Perhaps, it was about curiosity, about another zest for action, about boredom, once again...

But she felt like a resistance fighter herself, when she did. In a good way.

She wasn't even entirely sure, against who or what she was making resistance, but she certainly was better at it than everyone else in Omashu.


	10. Positive prospects

**POSITIVE PROSPECTS**

* * *

"You're cutting way too much of the stalk away, dear!", Mai's aunt complained with a chuckle, and gone was the flower in Mai's hands. Mura had grabbed it, and was now demonstrating how to cut the right amount of the fire lilies' stalks off, her face lightened up by contentedness.

"See? Just like that. We want them to get enough water, don't we?"

"So that's why you cut them off where the stalks are the thickest?", Mai wondered. "I thought it might look nicer if the stalks were thinner, so that you could put more of them into the same vase..."

"Oh, I don't think that's so important. As long as they stay nice and fresh as long as possible! Fire lilies are only in full bloom for such a short time of the year! If you cut them the right way, you get to have them in your home for a few days longer than otherwise."

Mai nodded, watching with some astonishment how beautifully her aunt arranged the lilies in a red jug. It wasn't as if Mai was all that interested in flowers. They were just flowers, after all. But her aunt certainly had a talent for these things, and Mai certainly had missed her aunt over the past few months. So she kept watching her arrange flowers, and helped her to cut some,too, now and then. Mai liked to cut flowers. Then again, she liked to use knives in general.

She was sitting on top of the counter of a small, chilly room,- just above the palace's basement,- her aunt standing in front of a table at her left and working on the fire lilies.

Mai was glad that auntie Mura had brought some of them with her to the Earth Kingdom. There were others, too; other flowers far to nice to belong here, and Mai felt a wonderful sorrow when she looked at these reminders of home.

How Zuko must feel, she thought, all alone on a ship without anything else than the boatmen to remind him of their nation? Well, Zuko had his uncle, of course. Zuko had always loved his uncle, Mai knew. But still, there had to be so much anger and fear in him. So much desperation at the prospect of never going home again, if he wouldn't figure out how to find the Avatar...

Mai hated herself a little for it, but when had she first heard the rumour of that person being alive,- the rumour of the presumed dead Avatar having returned to their world and to their war, after so many years, - her first reaction had been pure joy.

It wasn't acceptable to feel that way, to be happy about the Fire Nation's enemy being back among the living and therefore being a risk to their military chances, again, but _Zuko_ might return, therefore, too! Zuko might catch that child, capture him, to bring the Avatar to his father. And then, she might actually have a chance to see him, once again, as well... There was a small likeliness of these things to happen, the world was so huge, the Avatar could be anywhere, and even, if Zuko did capture him, there were many things that could go wrong... But Zuko wasn't an idiot, after all, was he? He would find a way to do it. To regain his honour and to go home and to find her and...-

"What are you thinking about, Mai?", her aunt asked, eyeing her warmly and curiously. "You look happy."

Mai shrugged, regaining her usual, unemotional expression.

"It's nothing important.", she explained, standing up and taking another fire lily. She cut the stalk off, the way her aunt did, and put the flower into the nearby vase.

"See, now you're doing it perfectly!", Mura smiled. "You really could step into my shoes one day, Mai! Wouldn't it be lovely, to be surrounded by flowers all day? It seems to cheer you up."

Mai didn't say anything, she just continued to cut the flowers. In the exactly right way, at the perfect spot, so that they would gain as much water as possible and stay fresh for longer than otherwise... And perhaps, it really wasn't that much of a bad prospect, to work in a flower shop one day, if only to get rid of some of the time spend in boredom. Perhaps, cutting flowers in the exactly right way wasn't all that different from throwing knives in the exactly right way. Perhaps, flowers were really making her happy. Knives surely did, too.

Well, Mai pondered, we'll see.


End file.
